LOSS System: Last Store Standing

Jack’s expression hardened as the warning ended.

He had only been in this world for a few days, yet trouble had already come for him again and again. First the Red Sand Badgers, then the raiders, and now some mutant feline had appeared out of nowhere.

One after another, with barely a moment for him to breathe.

Did they really think he would keep backing down?

Anger burned in Jack’s chest. Without saying a word, he turned and headed for the convenience store.

“Jack!” Cass called after him.

Jack did not look back.

He went straight behind the counter, pulled open the drawer, and took out the handgun along with a full box of ammunition.

He did not care whether the mutant beast was hunting the Dustchucks or coming for the convenience store. If it insisted on coming here, he would make sure it did not leave.

Back outside, Jack loaded the magazine and slipped the remaining ammunition into his pocket.

“Can you tell where it’s coming from?” he asked Vane.

Vane was already on his feet, dagger in hand. He watched Jack for a moment, surprised by the change in him. Jack had been visibly nervous during the raider attack, but now there was no hesitation in his movements.

“Somewhere ahead of us,” Vane said. “I can’t tell the exact direction.”

Jack turned to Susan and Ray. “Get inside the store and stay there.”

Then he walked toward the dunes with the handgun in his grip.

Cass tried to push himself out of the folding chair, but pain shot through his injured leg as soon as he put weight on it. He dropped back into the seat with a frustrated breath.

“What’s gotten into him today?”

Vane said nothing.

Jack stopped a short distance from the tents and raised the handgun toward the uneven dunes.

The wasteland remained still. Wind skimmed across the ground, carrying a thin veil of sand with it. The Dustchucks had disappeared into their burrows, leaving only their leader peering out from the entrance and searching the surrounding dunes.

Then a low growl rolled across the wasteland.

Mort recognized it immediately.

“The Crag Lynx.”

He braced himself against the stack of boards and struggled to his feet. The effort drained what little color remained in his face.

“It’s probably here for me.”

“How do you know?” Vane asked.

“It appeared after Valkyrie wounded me last night. It must have followed the scent of blood all the way here.”

Mort looked at the dagger in Vane’s hand. “Lend me your weapon. I’ll help hold it off.”

His gaze shifted toward Jack, who stood alone before the dunes.

“That thing is fast. If it gets past him and closes the distance, Jack won’t stand a chance.”

Vane looked toward Jack and hesitated. He was about to hand over the dagger when Cass stopped him.

“You go help Jack,” Cass said.

Then he picked up the pair of sai beside his chair and tossed them to Mort.

Mort caught the weapons and looked at him.

“Don’t misunderstand,” Cass said coldly. “I still don’t trust you. If you turn those weapons on Jack, I’ll kill you myself, injured leg or not.”

Mort looked down at the sai in his hands and tightened his grip.

“I never claimed to be a good man,” he said. “But all of you chose to spare me.”

He looked toward Jack.

“I won’t repay that by turning on any of you.”

Mort pressed a hand to his injured abdomen and made his way toward Jack, with Vane close behind. They stopped on either side of him.

Jack frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Mort kept his attention on the dunes. “It’s a Crag Lynx. If I’m right, it followed me here.”

“The same one Valkyrie attacked?”

“Most likely.”

Another growl rolled across the wasteland, louder and closer than before.

Mort tightened his grip on the sai. “When it shows itself, I’ll keep it occupied. Wait until I hold it in place, then take the shot. Whatever happens, don’t let it get close to you.”

Jack turned toward him. “You’re planning to use yourself as bait?”

“That thing is fast,” Mort said. “You might not be able to hit it while it’s moving. If it gets close, no one here will be able to stop it.”

“And your solution is to let it attack you?”

Mort fell silent for a moment.

“I’m the one it came for.”

“That’s enough,” Jack said coldly.

He turned his attention back to the dunes.

“I saved your life. You don’t get to throw it away whenever you feel like it.”

Mort had no answer.

“If you die, all the medicine I used on you will have gone to waste,” Jack continued. “So stay alive and pay me back by working.”

He turned to Vane. “Take him back.”

Vane hesitated, his dagger still clenched in his hand.

“Think about Ava,” Jack said.

That was enough.

After several seconds, Vane put away the dagger, grabbed Mort by the shoulder, and pulled him away from Jack.

“Let go of me!”

Mort tried to resist, but his injuries left him with little strength.

“You coward, Vane! He tells you to leave, and you just obey? Can’t you see he’s alone? One gun won’t be enough to stop that thing!”

Vane ignored him and kept dragging him toward the tent.

“Jack, stop trying to be a hero!” Mort shouted. “You have no idea what you’re facing! That thing came for me. Let me deal with it!”

Jack never looked back.

Mort struggled again, but his voice had lost its anger by the time he spoke next.

“My life isn’t worth this. You don’t have to risk yours for me.”

Vane faltered for a single step, then continued until they were back beneath the tent. Cass watched them return but said nothing.

Out on the wasteland, the wind seemed to die.

The Dustchucks had gone silent as well. Every one of them had disappeared into the burrows, leaving the sand around Jack unnaturally still.

Jack kept the handgun trained on the dunes, his finger resting against the trigger.

The system spoke again.

“Human, emergency task issued.”

“Resolve the current crisis within twenty-four hours.”

“Failure: death.”

“Success: I will additionally grant you one submachine gun and one thousand compatible rounds.”

Jack blinked. “An extra reward? Since when were you this generous?”

Instead of arguing, LOSS answered with an anger Jack had never heard from it before.

“Human, do what you need to do.”

“I’m with you.”

Before Jack could reply, a dark red shape emerged from behind one of the distant dunes.

The Crag Lynx advanced with its body held low, its thick paws sinking into the sand with each silent step. Its dark eyes passed over Jack and locked onto Mort beneath the tent.

There was no longer any doubt about why it had come.

Jack raised the handgun and took aim.

Then he fired.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!